Another week passed by uneventfully as Ezekiel and Agatha searched Morag for the power stone. It was just a typical day at first for Ezekiel as he combed through the underwater ruins without much enthusiasm for the task that became repetitive at this point.
It was only hours later as Ezekiel zoomed around the seafloor that he got excited. In front of him was a building that looked strangely familiar to the one from the movie. Well it wasn't exactly the same but it was really close so Ezekiel moved towards it eager to investigate it. There was a large hole in the main roof that he used to enter the building and after half an hour of exploring he found what he was looking for. The sealed room that contained the power stone, or what he thought was the room.
Since it was completely sealed and he didn't want to ruin the building getting in, Ezekiel decided to get help. First he traveled to the surface before he channeled magic into the bracelet around his wrist and a moment later a portal opened up before him. He smiled at Tao on the other side of the portal as he said, "I think I found it."
Tao nodded in understanding before she said, "I'll grab Agatha, give me just a moment."
The portal closed and about a minute later another portal opened up before Tao and Agatha stepped out of it. After the portal closed, Tao and Agatha protected themselves with spells before Ezekiel led everyone down into the sunken temple and the sealed room. Once they were in front of the door Tao studied it for a few moments before she started to cast a spell.
A magic barrier appeared from where she floated and slowly pushed all the water around them back. Once a small ten foot area free of water was created did Tao create a portal into the vault. After they stepped through the portal and it closed behind them Ezekiel asked, "Couldn't you just make a portal in the water? Wouldn't the magic barrier on the portal stop the water from rushing through?"
"Yes, but we would have gotten wet as we passed through it because the portal barrier negates the barrier we used to stay protected under water."
Ezekiel frowned as he noticed the spells he used to explore underwater were gone before he said, "I didn't know that…"
"Is it all protective spell shields or just the one we used for the water?" Ezekiel asked as they all looked towards the power stone that was currently sealed behind a purplish colored barrier.
Tao walked up to the pillar where the power stone was sealed and walked around it once as she inspected it before she said, "It negates all of them."
Ezekiel frowned as he asked, "Isn't that bad if you are portaling into a hostile situation? Wouldn't you want to have some type of barrier active so you can be protected on the other side of the portal?"
Tao glanced towards Ezekiel as she asked, "Didn't you read Torvin's Comprehensive Study of Portals and How They Function?"
"Not yet. I've had my clones focus on runic magic and fuinjutsu studies. Besides, shouldn't that type of information be in the original book on portals you had me read?"
Tao shook her head before she said, "No. That book is only meant to teach you how to create portals and about their basic functions."
"A portal's ability to remove a protective shield when you use it seems like important information that should be in the first book you read about them." Ezekiel's voice trailed off before he said, "Didn't you say the warnings come at the end of the books? I'm pretty sure that would be considered some type of warning."
Tao turned back to the barrier protecting the power stone before she said, "And they do. But the basic primer for portals is exactly what it's meant to be."
Ezekiel opened his mouth to say more but Tao gave him a single glance that made him instantly shut his mouth. Tao then turned her attention back to the barrier where she started to cast spells to study it. After a minute or so Tao nodded to herself before she said, "The barrier is actually powered by the stone itself."
Ezekiel frowned as he said, "That's gonna be a slight problem then."
Tao started to cast a new spell as she said, "Not necessarily. We will just have to provide the fake stone with a tiny bit of power."
Agatha nodded in agreement before she said, "Since people are going to be handling the power stone a few times it will be best to make a working imitation instead of what we created for the Tesseract."
Tao finished her spell and the force field around the power stone started to dim before it disappeared completely. The ball that contained the power stone dropped from its spot which Ezekiel reached out and caught before he asked, "So lunch and then we can make a fake replacement for this thing?"
Tao put her hand out for the ball as she said, "You mean Agatha and I will make the replacement. You're going to be studying since it seems like you need to expand your magical knowledge more."
Ezekiel smiled sheepishly as he handed the metal sphere to Tao before he said, "I could still help while my clones read instead."
"In that case you can make us tea while we work." Tao said as she opened another portal back to Earth.
Once back on Earth they picked a place in Genosha to eat at before they went back to the mystic school. In the sealed chamber beneath the school they started work on making a fake power stone. The first step was to use a magic spell to unlock the sphere before they removed the power stone and placed it inside the magic device they created.
The device served a couple purposes, the first one was sealing away the power stone's unique energy signature. The second purpose of the device was to let someone use the stone if needed like the Eye of Agamotto or the device they created for the space stone.
Once the power stone was sealed in the device properly, Tao and Agatha researched a proper way to create a functional fake. It took a couple weeks but with the help of a crystalline spell container they created, they were able to make it. It would function basically as a battery until its power was fully depleted and then the container would disintegrate.
As for making it convincing, all they had to do was use the power stone to charge it. It not only made the crystalline container look almost exactly like the power stone, but it also gave off the same feeling as the stone. They did test it a few times to make sure it would work as intended, but if someone tried to use a big burst of power it would instantly drain it and it would destroy itself.
After they were done, Tao sealed the fake stone back in its ball and placed it back inside the temple on Morag. Once that was completed, Theo prepared himself for the next stone he wanted to collect. It was also the only stone that had requirements for collecting.
While what Theo wanted to attempt was all theory based and might not work in the end. Theo would rather try his idea, then even consider doing the known method to acquire the soul stone. He did have a backup plan for the soul stone if this one didn't work out though.
Theo in his Ezekiel persona was in the medical base laboratory as he watched the clone body he had commissioned be removed from its incubation chamber. It was a modified male clone body made with normal human DNA only and aged to be around late teenager. After the clone was removed from the chamber, cleaned up and dressed in some clothes, it was placed into a wheelchair. Ezekiel then took the handles of the wheel chair and took the clone with him to the portal room where he created a portal to Genosha.
Once there, he made his way to the magic school and into the hidden chamber below it, where he met up with Tao and Agatha. When he arrived Tao glanced over the clone body as she asked, "Are you sure about this?"
"Not really, but it can't hurt to try it."
Agatha studied the clone body for a few moments before she said, "Well if it doesn't work, we still have plan B."
Ezekiel nodded as he said, "Exactly."
Tao glanced one more time at the clone body before she opened up a portal to Vormir. After they stepped through the portal onto the planet, Ezekiel took a moment to enjoy the view as he looked out over the purple tinted sky filled with clouds.
After a few moments of taking it all in he turned towards the wheelchair before he used a spell on it. The wheelchair lifted off the ground and hovered there before Ezekiel grabbed the handles and started walking towards a mountain in the distance.
After they walked for a few minutes Tao said, "You know we can just portal to the top of that thing…"
Ezekiel paused for a few moments before he turned back to looking at Tao as he said, "I just assumed this was as close to it as we could portal."
Tao spun her hand in a circle as she said, "I was more concerned with getting to the planet the first time. Now that we are here, I have no issue portaling us anywhere on the planet."
The portal opened up next to Ezekiel and showed the top of the mountain a moment later before Ezekiel said, "Oh… I guess I should have asked."
Tao nodded in agreement before she waved towards the portal and said, "After you."
After everyone passed through the portal and it closed behind them, a ghostly figure in a billowy black cloak floated towards them. As the specter came closer its eerie voice echoed as it said, "Welcome, Agatha Harkness."
The specter landed before everyone before it turned its cloaked head towards Tao and said, "Welcome Saskia, current sorcerer supreme of Earth."
It then turned its attention to Ezekiel and the clone before it paused for a few moments as it studied both of them closely. After a few moments it finally said, "I'm not sure who you are… This… This has never happened before."
"It's okay, I heard one in three men suffer from performance anxiety. But they do make a pill that can fix that issue now."
The specter tilted its head to the side slightly as it stared at Ezekiel a while longer before it said, "Strange… I always know who comes here and yet you're… invisible to me."
The specter glanced towards the clone body in the wheelchair as it said, "This one I can understand for it has no soul, but you… You have a soul that I can not see through properly."
"Well I can help you out. My name is Ezekiel and I come from Earth."
The specter floated around Ezekiel as it tried to look through him while it mumbled to itself, "Strange. Strange... Why are you strange?"
"I'm Ezekiel, Strange isn't here right now." Ezekiel said with a smirk.
The specter stopped in front of Ezekiel before it asked, "What is your purpose here?"
Ezekiel smiled wide as he said, "I'm here for you, herr Schmidt!"
The specter floated back slightly before it removed the cloak that covered its head. The red skull stared at Ezekiel for a few moments before he asked, "You know who I once was?"
"Of course I do! Why else would I come to this planet in the middle of nowhere?"
"You didn't come to seek the soul stone?" The red skull asked as he stared intently at Ezekiel.
Ezekiel shook his head as he said, "That's a secondary interest. I came for you first and we can worry about the soul stone afterwards."
The red skull stared at Ezekiel for a while as if he was trying to see through him before he asked, "How did you know I was here?"
"I have a gift of foresight and found you through that."
"Why did you search me out?" The red skull asked as he glanced at Tao, Agatha and the clone body.
"Because Hydra is about to reawaken from its hibernation and it needs a proper leader. A leader people can look up to, one who is known and feared around the world." Ezekiel said with a slight smile.
"People still know who I am?" The red skull asked with interest.
"While your overall plan failed, the world still knows you as the man who killed Captain America."
"I didn't kill him…"
"Maybe you didn't, but the history books say otherwise. You are known as the evil mastermind who almost took over the world and you were only stopped because of the heroic sacrifice of the Captain." Ezekiel said with a shrug.
The red skull glanced at the clone body as he asked, "Did you bring that body for me?"
"Yes. Our goal is to anchor your soul into it."
The red skull shook his head before he said, "It won't work, I am just a shell of my former self."
Ezekiel glanced towards Tao before he asked, "What do you think?"
Tao started to cast spell after spell before she started to walk around the red skull as she studied his wraith-like body. After about a minute she said, "His soul is damaged, but mostly intact. There shouldn't be any issue."
Ezekiel turned back to the red skull as he asked, "Are you ready to have a body again?"